Comparing the lipid self-assembly behaviour and fatty acid composition of plant-based drinks to bovine milk during digestion

In this study, a static in-vitro digestion model was coupled with synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to compare the lipid self-assembly behaviour of plant-based drinks and bovine milk during digestion. The diffraction profiles were combined with principal component analysis (PCA) of the fatty acid (FA) composition during digestion. Half of the plant-based drinks were found to form an inverse micellar cubic phase which is substantially different from the inverse hexagonal and bicontinuous cubic phases determined in bovine milk during digestion. The PCA inferred that the plant-based drinks all had similar FA compositions with slight changes in oleic and linoleic acid ratios. The polyunsaturated long-chain fatty acids of the plant-based drinks forming inverse micellar structures are in agreement with the critical packing parameter theory. These findings increase the understanding of the behaviour of plant-based drinks and aid further development of new and existing plant-based dairy substitution products.